Susan F. Semel, Parlo Singh, and Alan R. Sadovnik, eds.

Basil Bernstein’s research project over four decades was on educational systems, specifically “the internal organisation and educational context of the school”: the powerful forms of knowledge transmitted through schooling systems, and who gained access to these forms of knowledge, how, and with what consequences. Educational failure, Bernstein stressed, did not rest with the students, but rather with the educational institutions. He examined differences in language and communication patterns between the institutions of the home/family and school, and studied the structuring of pedagogic discourse from the level of the state to the classroom. This collection brings together chapters by researchers from five countries to build on Bernstein’s concepts. Susan F. Semel (Assoc. Prof., City) is on the doctoral faculty in urban education.